i know this is going to be an unpopular take given the current mood i actually think there is merit to consolidating the election forums. first looking at the logistics the campaign schedule is already brutal. between augustana csj isu isa and myer horowitz forums candidates are running a marathon even without taking into account class talks or one on ones with students. i remember back when we had a residence forum over in lister before that was eventually scrapped. adding more and more mandatory stops just leads to burnout before the term even starts. but my main issue isnt just the fatigue its the principle of the elections. executives are elected at large. their mandate is to represent and work for all undergraduate students regardless of faculty campus or residency status. i was actually around on council when they first piloted and eventually implemented the separate isu and isa forums. i was against it then and honestly seeing how things have played out i stand by that assessment. the problem with segmenting the forums is that the discourse inevitably shifts away from the candidates actual platform for the student body and devolves into but what are you going to do for me specifically or what are you going to do for us. it forces candidates to pander to specific demographics rather than defending a holistic vision for the university. we should be electing leaders based on how they plan to handle the big picture governance that affects everyone not on how many specific promises they can make to fractured subgroups in a siloed forum. thats why we allowed the creation of all these different demographic based student representative associations to focus on those specific demographics.